This chapter begins with a discussion of the illustrates four key steps that the visual system follows in perceiving objects: (1) segmentation of the visual scene into its components, components that ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of the illustrates four key steps that the visual system follows in perceiving objects: (1) segmentation of the visual scene into its components, components that are discriminable by virtue of differences in color, luminance, texture, distance, shape, orientation, and motion; (2) assembly of the components derived from Step 1 into units; (3) perception of the units as continuous across space and time; and (4) deduction of the three-dimensional shape of the assembled units from limited views. The chapter presents data that bear principally on development of the second and third aspects of object perception: assembling visual fragments into units, and perceiving continuity across space and time. It posits a strong role for learning in achieving veridical object perception in the first several postnatal months: infants learn by doing (i.e., via development of eye movements) and infants learn by seeing (i.e., via exposure to objects in the environment).Less

Developmental Origins of Object Perception

Scott P. Johnson

Published in print: 2008-09-01

This chapter begins with a discussion of the illustrates four key steps that the visual system follows in perceiving objects: (1) segmentation of the visual scene into its components, components that are discriminable by virtue of differences in color, luminance, texture, distance, shape, orientation, and motion; (2) assembly of the components derived from Step 1 into units; (3) perception of the units as continuous across space and time; and (4) deduction of the three-dimensional shape of the assembled units from limited views. The chapter presents data that bear principally on development of the second and third aspects of object perception: assembling visual fragments into units, and perceiving continuity across space and time. It posits a strong role for learning in achieving veridical object perception in the first several postnatal months: infants learn by doing (i.e., via development of eye movements) and infants learn by seeing (i.e., via exposure to objects in the environment).

This chapter discusses the general principles of visual coding. It covers the structure of sense organs; types of sensory coding; temporal coding; the geometry of visual space; coding primitives; ...
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This chapter discusses the general principles of visual coding. It covers the structure of sense organs; types of sensory coding; temporal coding; the geometry of visual space; coding primitives; higher-order sensory systems; and types of perceptual judgment.Less

Sensory coding

Ian P. HowardBrian J. Rogers

Published in print: 2008-02-01

This chapter discusses the general principles of visual coding. It covers the structure of sense organs; types of sensory coding; temporal coding; the geometry of visual space; coding primitives; higher-order sensory systems; and types of perceptual judgment.

This chapter discusses the neural correlates of human action perception, specifically the perception of bodies and body movements. It also provides a brief discussion on the likely connection of this ...
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This chapter discusses the neural correlates of human action perception, specifically the perception of bodies and body movements. It also provides a brief discussion on the likely connection of this network to additional cortical areas associated with more abstract properties of action perception, such as perceived intentionality. An introduction to the primary perceptual pathways in the visual cortex for generalized motion and form perception is presented, as well as some preliminary evidence for specialized circuits dedicated to biological motion perception.Less

Neurophysiology of Action Recognition

Emily D. Grossman

Published in print: 2008-03-06

This chapter discusses the neural correlates of human action perception, specifically the perception of bodies and body movements. It also provides a brief discussion on the likely connection of this network to additional cortical areas associated with more abstract properties of action perception, such as perceived intentionality. An introduction to the primary perceptual pathways in the visual cortex for generalized motion and form perception is presented, as well as some preliminary evidence for specialized circuits dedicated to biological motion perception.

Current understanding of the basic optical and physiological processes involved in how we see is explained in a number of recent books on the subject by specialists in cognitive psychology and in the ...
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Current understanding of the basic optical and physiological processes involved in how we see is explained in a number of recent books on the subject by specialists in cognitive psychology and in the various branches of neuroscience. This chapter reviews some aspects of the topic that are particularly relevant to the subject of this book. Although in common parlance we speak of seeing with our eyes, in fact we do not see with our eyes, but with our brains. The eyes conduct light, via the retina at the back of the eyeball and the optic nerve, to the various different regions of the brain that are involved in seeing; as many as thirty have been suggested by neuroscientists. Seeing is thus a complex process that takes place in conjunction with other processes in which the brain is involved.Less

Seeing and Shaping Objects

Peter S. Wells

Published in print: 2012-08-26

Current understanding of the basic optical and physiological processes involved in how we see is explained in a number of recent books on the subject by specialists in cognitive psychology and in the various branches of neuroscience. This chapter reviews some aspects of the topic that are particularly relevant to the subject of this book. Although in common parlance we speak of seeing with our eyes, in fact we do not see with our eyes, but with our brains. The eyes conduct light, via the retina at the back of the eyeball and the optic nerve, to the various different regions of the brain that are involved in seeing; as many as thirty have been suggested by neuroscientists. Seeing is thus a complex process that takes place in conjunction with other processes in which the brain is involved.

This chapter examines both what can be perceived and how what can be perceived is perceived. First, it asks the question: how can visual perception provide knowledge at all? Since knowledge of the ...
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This chapter examines both what can be perceived and how what can be perceived is perceived. First, it asks the question: how can visual perception provide knowledge at all? Since knowledge of the world acquired by perception depends on the identification and the recognition of objects, it examines problems raised by visual recognition. Second, it considers the question of how human vision interacts with the rest of human cognition: how is knowledge gained by visual perception integrated with knowledge gained by other means? Third, it examines the scope and limits of purely visual knowledge. Fourth, it asks the question: how intelligent are perceptual processes? Fifth, it asks whether all of one's visual experiences ought to be treated as beliefs or judgments. Finally, the chapter re-examines the puzzles of the phenomenology of human visual experience in the light of the problem of binding.Less

Visual perception

PIERRE JACOBMARC JEANNEROD

Published in print: 2003-10-02

This chapter examines both what can be perceived and how what can be perceived is perceived. First, it asks the question: how can visual perception provide knowledge at all? Since knowledge of the world acquired by perception depends on the identification and the recognition of objects, it examines problems raised by visual recognition. Second, it considers the question of how human vision interacts with the rest of human cognition: how is knowledge gained by visual perception integrated with knowledge gained by other means? Third, it examines the scope and limits of purely visual knowledge. Fourth, it asks the question: how intelligent are perceptual processes? Fifth, it asks whether all of one's visual experiences ought to be treated as beliefs or judgments. Finally, the chapter re-examines the puzzles of the phenomenology of human visual experience in the light of the problem of binding.

The preceding chapters examined three categories of objects—pottery, fibulae, and swords with their scabbards—and two ways of manipulating objects—arrangements in graves and performances involving ...
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The preceding chapters examined three categories of objects—pottery, fibulae, and swords with their scabbards—and two ways of manipulating objects—arrangements in graves and performances involving human bodily action with objects—over the two-thousand-year period from the Early Bronze Age to the end of the prehistoric Iron Age. The focus has been on visual aspects of objects and the changes in their visual character over time. This chapter synthesizes the material laid out in chapters 5 through 10. It draws attention to the consistency of the patterns in the visual character of material culture in each of the three main periods of time considered in this book, and to the character of the changes that took place in the fifth century BC and in the second century BC.Less

Changing Patterns in Objects and in Perception

Peter S. Wells

Published in print: 2012-08-26

The preceding chapters examined three categories of objects—pottery, fibulae, and swords with their scabbards—and two ways of manipulating objects—arrangements in graves and performances involving human bodily action with objects—over the two-thousand-year period from the Early Bronze Age to the end of the prehistoric Iron Age. The focus has been on visual aspects of objects and the changes in their visual character over time. This chapter synthesizes the material laid out in chapters 5 through 10. It draws attention to the consistency of the patterns in the visual character of material culture in each of the three main periods of time considered in this book, and to the character of the changes that took place in the fifth century BC and in the second century BC.

Many psychophysical and analytic procedures have been used to investigate the visual perception of depth. This chapter provides a general introduction to these procedures. Topics discussed include ...
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Many psychophysical and analytic procedures have been used to investigate the visual perception of depth. This chapter provides a general introduction to these procedures. Topics discussed include psychophysics; the applications of psychophysics; an analysis of linear and nonlinear systems; control theory; time series; Bayesian inference; and concepts of geometry.Less

Psychophysics and analysis

Ian P. HowardBrian J. Rogers

Published in print: 2008-02-01

Many psychophysical and analytic procedures have been used to investigate the visual perception of depth. This chapter provides a general introduction to these procedures. Topics discussed include psychophysics; the applications of psychophysics; an analysis of linear and nonlinear systems; control theory; time series; Bayesian inference; and concepts of geometry.

Perception depends on proper recurrent interactions among separate visual areas. Within such a cooperative network, the primary visual cortex plays a unique part. It is the main recipient of visual ...
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Perception depends on proper recurrent interactions among separate visual areas. Within such a cooperative network, the primary visual cortex plays a unique part. It is the main recipient of visual information, and it is at the end stage of top-down influences. In recent years, it has become clear that the primary visual cortex plays a prominent role in producing visual perception. This chapter gives an overview of the latest neurophysiological findings on figure-ground segmentation in the monkey primary visual cortex and discusses how those findings relate to visual perception.Less

Neurobiological Foundations of Figure–Ground Segregation in Primates

Hans Supèr

Published in print: 2012-03-14

Perception depends on proper recurrent interactions among separate visual areas. Within such a cooperative network, the primary visual cortex plays a unique part. It is the main recipient of visual information, and it is at the end stage of top-down influences. In recent years, it has become clear that the primary visual cortex plays a prominent role in producing visual perception. This chapter gives an overview of the latest neurophysiological findings on figure-ground segmentation in the monkey primary visual cortex and discusses how those findings relate to visual perception.

This chapter further develops a multiple-subsystems hypothesis positing distinct transient and sustained subsystems in high-level vision, and relates it to knowledge about independent pathways in ...
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This chapter further develops a multiple-subsystems hypothesis positing distinct transient and sustained subsystems in high-level vision, and relates it to knowledge about independent pathways in early vision. It contrasts the transient-sustained hypothesis with the Ungerleider–Mishkin what-where hypothesis and the Milner–Goodale perception-action hypothesis, arguing that AH's results are readily accommodated by the proposal but pose challenges for both the Ungerleider–Mishkin and Milner–Goodale positions. Finally, it shows that the basic findings adduced in support of the what-where and perception-action hypotheses are entirely consistent with assumptions about the functional architecture of the higher-level visual system.Less

Visual Subsystems

Michael McCloskey

Published in print: 2009-05-01

This chapter further develops a multiple-subsystems hypothesis positing distinct transient and sustained subsystems in high-level vision, and relates it to knowledge about independent pathways in early vision. It contrasts the transient-sustained hypothesis with the Ungerleider–Mishkin what-where hypothesis and the Milner–Goodale perception-action hypothesis, arguing that AH's results are readily accommodated by the proposal but pose challenges for both the Ungerleider–Mishkin and Milner–Goodale positions. Finally, it shows that the basic findings adduced in support of the what-where and perception-action hypotheses are entirely consistent with assumptions about the functional architecture of the higher-level visual system.

This chapter first discusses the concept of the frame and how it helps us to understand the visual patterning of space in late prehistoric Europe. Frames, whether they are wooden picture frames that ...
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This chapter first discusses the concept of the frame and how it helps us to understand the visual patterning of space in late prehistoric Europe. Frames, whether they are wooden picture frames that hold paintings on museum walls or boundary ditches around prehistoric sites, perform the important function of establishing for the viewer the boundaries of that which is to be viewed. The frame tells the viewer what is inside and therefore to be considered and what is outside and therefore can be ignored. The things that prehistoric Europeans placed within frames, their foci of attention, can be understood as diagrams. The chapter then considers some of the visual patterns that persist from the Early Bronze Age through the Late Iron Age, before turning to the character of the changes that took place in ways of seeing in later prehistoric Europe.Less

Frame, Focus, Visualization

Peter S. Wells

Published in print: 2012-08-26

This chapter first discusses the concept of the frame and how it helps us to understand the visual patterning of space in late prehistoric Europe. Frames, whether they are wooden picture frames that hold paintings on museum walls or boundary ditches around prehistoric sites, perform the important function of establishing for the viewer the boundaries of that which is to be viewed. The frame tells the viewer what is inside and therefore to be considered and what is outside and therefore can be ignored. The things that prehistoric Europeans placed within frames, their foci of attention, can be understood as diagrams. The chapter then considers some of the visual patterns that persist from the Early Bronze Age through the Late Iron Age, before turning to the character of the changes that took place in ways of seeing in later prehistoric Europe.

This chapter focuses on the visual perception of whole body actions. Section 2 describes differences between the perceptual and neurophysiological analyses of moving people and moving objects. ...
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This chapter focuses on the visual perception of whole body actions. Section 2 describes differences between the perceptual and neurophysiological analyses of moving people and moving objects. Section 3 describes some of the social and emotion information that observers can detect from highly degraded displays of human motion. Section 4 focuses on an argument that classically trained vision scientists may find disagreeable. That is, classic models of the visual system are largely modular in that visual perception depends exclusively upon visual processes. Section 5 describes investigations of the relationships between observers' social capabilities and their visual sensitivity to other people's actions.Less

Seeing Human Movement as Inherently Social

Maggie ShiffrarMartha D. KaiserAreti Chouchourelou

Published in print: 2010-11-16

This chapter focuses on the visual perception of whole body actions. Section 2 describes differences between the perceptual and neurophysiological analyses of moving people and moving objects. Section 3 describes some of the social and emotion information that observers can detect from highly degraded displays of human motion. Section 4 focuses on an argument that classically trained vision scientists may find disagreeable. That is, classic models of the visual system are largely modular in that visual perception depends exclusively upon visual processes. Section 5 describes investigations of the relationships between observers' social capabilities and their visual sensitivity to other people's actions.

What is the goal of color vision? How ought we to think of color appearance? Under one view, the goal of vision is to maintain a stable representation of object properties across changes in the ...
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What is the goal of color vision? How ought we to think of color appearance? Under one view, the goal of vision is to maintain a stable representation of object properties across changes in the environment. This poses a challenge to the visual system, because the sensory signal on which visual perception is based is ambiguous with respect to the physical properties of objects in the world. Thus, to maintain stable color appearance, the visual system must estimate what object was most likely to have caused the ambiguous sensory signal. This chapter presents a Bayesian approach to solving this estimation problem that relies on statistical regularities in the world to resolve the sensory ambiguity. The chapter argues that this is a sensible idea: the human visual system evolved in this world, and thus its statistical regularities are likely to be of functional importance to vision.Less

Approaching Color with Bayesian Algorithms

Sarah Allred

Published in print: 2012-07-12

What is the goal of color vision? How ought we to think of color appearance? Under one view, the goal of vision is to maintain a stable representation of object properties across changes in the environment. This poses a challenge to the visual system, because the sensory signal on which visual perception is based is ambiguous with respect to the physical properties of objects in the world. Thus, to maintain stable color appearance, the visual system must estimate what object was most likely to have caused the ambiguous sensory signal. This chapter presents a Bayesian approach to solving this estimation problem that relies on statistical regularities in the world to resolve the sensory ambiguity. The chapter argues that this is a sensible idea: the human visual system evolved in this world, and thus its statistical regularities are likely to be of functional importance to vision.

Much of our human mental life looks to involve a seamless unfolding of perception, action, and experience: a golden braid in which each element twines intimately with the rest. We see the very world ...
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Much of our human mental life looks to involve a seamless unfolding of perception, action, and experience: a golden braid in which each element twines intimately with the rest. We see the very world we act in and we act in the world we see. But more than this, visual experience presents us with the world in a way apt for the control and fine guidance of action. Or so it seems. Milner and Goodale's influential work on the dual visual systems hypothesis casts doubt on certain versions of this intuitive vision. It does so by prising apart the twining strands of conscious visual perception and the fine control of visuomotor action. This chapter first clarifies the major claims that the bold proposal involves. It then examines three sets of worries and objections. The first set concerns some important matters of detail. The second set concerns a certain kind of conceptual or philosophical worry to the effect that the perception/action model equates visual experience itself unfairly with what are in fact certain elements within visual experience. The third set concerns the very idea of conscious experience as a well-defined conceptual or experimental target.Less

Perception, action, and experience: unravelling the golden braid *

Andy Clark

Published in print: 2010-08-19

Much of our human mental life looks to involve a seamless unfolding of perception, action, and experience: a golden braid in which each element twines intimately with the rest. We see the very world we act in and we act in the world we see. But more than this, visual experience presents us with the world in a way apt for the control and fine guidance of action. Or so it seems. Milner and Goodale's influential work on the dual visual systems hypothesis casts doubt on certain versions of this intuitive vision. It does so by prising apart the twining strands of conscious visual perception and the fine control of visuomotor action. This chapter first clarifies the major claims that the bold proposal involves. It then examines three sets of worries and objections. The first set concerns some important matters of detail. The second set concerns a certain kind of conceptual or philosophical worry to the effect that the perception/action model equates visual experience itself unfairly with what are in fact certain elements within visual experience. The third set concerns the very idea of conscious experience as a well-defined conceptual or experimental target.

This chapter argues that the “Roman conquest” of parts of temperate Europe was not as all-changing as most history books would suggest. The idea of a “Roman Europe,” in the sense of European ...
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This chapter argues that the “Roman conquest” of parts of temperate Europe was not as all-changing as most history books would suggest. The idea of a “Roman Europe,” in the sense of European provinces practicing Roman culture—in particular, Roman ways of seeing—needs considerable revision. Much evidence suggests that Middle Iron Age modes of visual perception and ways of crafting objects continued throughout the period of Roman political domination to reemerge in the so-called “early Germanic” style of the early Middle Ages, as well as in “Celtic” objects such as the Book of Kells and the traditions known as “Anglo-Saxon” and “Viking” art.Less

The Visuality of Objects, Past and Present

Peter S. Wells

Published in print: 2012-08-26

This chapter argues that the “Roman conquest” of parts of temperate Europe was not as all-changing as most history books would suggest. The idea of a “Roman Europe,” in the sense of European provinces practicing Roman culture—in particular, Roman ways of seeing—needs considerable revision. Much evidence suggests that Middle Iron Age modes of visual perception and ways of crafting objects continued throughout the period of Roman political domination to reemerge in the so-called “early Germanic” style of the early Middle Ages, as well as in “Celtic” objects such as the Book of Kells and the traditions known as “Anglo-Saxon” and “Viking” art.

This chapter discusses other reported deficits in processing visual location and orientation information. It highlights a recently reported case, involving a patient named PR, that bears a striking ...
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This chapter discusses other reported deficits in processing visual location and orientation information. It highlights a recently reported case, involving a patient named PR, that bears a striking resemblance to that of AH. Both AH and PR were impaired in location and orientation perception, both made systematic left-right reflection errors, and both showed the same dramatic effects of exposure duration, motion, flicker, and eccentricity. The commonalities between the two cases strongly suggest that the underlying deficits are very similar and provide a basis for increased confidence in conclusions about the normal visual system drawn from AH's (or PR's) performance.Less

Related Cases

Michael McCloskey

Published in print: 2009-05-01

This chapter discusses other reported deficits in processing visual location and orientation information. It highlights a recently reported case, involving a patient named PR, that bears a striking resemblance to that of AH. Both AH and PR were impaired in location and orientation perception, both made systematic left-right reflection errors, and both showed the same dramatic effects of exposure duration, motion, flicker, and eccentricity. The commonalities between the two cases strongly suggest that the underlying deficits are very similar and provide a basis for increased confidence in conclusions about the normal visual system drawn from AH's (or PR's) performance.

This chapter offers a contribution to the body of evidence bearing on the role of the visual system in visual imagery. It reports AH's performance on two imagery tasks, both of which had the same ...
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This chapter offers a contribution to the body of evidence bearing on the role of the visual system in visual imagery. It reports AH's performance on two imagery tasks, both of which had the same rationale: If visual imagery requires the level(s) of the visual system at which AH's perceptual errors arise, then her visual images, like her perceptions, should misrepresent locations and orientations. Furthermore, the misrepresentations in imagery should take the same form as AH's errors in perception: left-right and up-down reflections. The chapter studies these hypotheses.Less

Mental Imagery and the Visual System

Michael McCloskey

Published in print: 2009-05-01

This chapter offers a contribution to the body of evidence bearing on the role of the visual system in visual imagery. It reports AH's performance on two imagery tasks, both of which had the same rationale: If visual imagery requires the level(s) of the visual system at which AH's perceptual errors arise, then her visual images, like her perceptions, should misrepresent locations and orientations. Furthermore, the misrepresentations in imagery should take the same form as AH's errors in perception: left-right and up-down reflections. The chapter studies these hypotheses.

How much can we learn about normal visual perception and cognition from a malfunctioning visual system? Quite a lot, as this book makes abundantly clear. This book presents the author's work with AH, ...
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How much can we learn about normal visual perception and cognition from a malfunctioning visual system? Quite a lot, as this book makes abundantly clear. This book presents the author's work with AH, who is a college student who has an extraordinary deficit in visual perception. When AH looks at an object, she sees it clearly and identifies it readily; yet she is often dramatically mistaken about where the object is or how it is oriented. For example, she may reach out to grasp an object that she sees on her left, but miss it completely because it is actually on her right; or she may see an arrow pointing up when it is really pointing down. AH's errors, together with many other clues, lead the book to some very interesting conclusions about how we perceive the world. It develops theoretical claims about visual subsystems, the nature of visual location and orientation representations, attention and spatial representations, the role of the visual system in mental imagery, and the levels of the visual system implicated in awareness. This book makes a fascinating and compelling case that we can often learn more about a process when it goes awry than when it functions flawlessly.Less

Visual Reflections : A Perceptual Deficit and Its Implications

Michael McCloskey

Published in print: 2009-05-01

How much can we learn about normal visual perception and cognition from a malfunctioning visual system? Quite a lot, as this book makes abundantly clear. This book presents the author's work with AH, who is a college student who has an extraordinary deficit in visual perception. When AH looks at an object, she sees it clearly and identifies it readily; yet she is often dramatically mistaken about where the object is or how it is oriented. For example, she may reach out to grasp an object that she sees on her left, but miss it completely because it is actually on her right; or she may see an arrow pointing up when it is really pointing down. AH's errors, together with many other clues, lead the book to some very interesting conclusions about how we perceive the world. It develops theoretical claims about visual subsystems, the nature of visual location and orientation representations, attention and spatial representations, the role of the visual system in mental imagery, and the levels of the visual system implicated in awareness. This book makes a fascinating and compelling case that we can often learn more about a process when it goes awry than when it functions flawlessly.

The human body has long been a rich source of inspiration for the arts, and artists have long recognized the body's special status. While the scientific study of body perception also has an important ...
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The human body has long been a rich source of inspiration for the arts, and artists have long recognized the body's special status. While the scientific study of body perception also has an important history, recent technological advances have triggered an explosion of research on the visual perception of the human body in motion, or as it is traditionally called, biological motion perception. Now reaching a point of burgeoning inter-disciplinary focus, biological motion perception research is poised to transform our understanding of person construal. Indeed, several factors highlight a privileged role for the human body as one of the most critical classes of stimuli affecting social perception. Human bodies in motion, for example, are among the most frequent moving stimulus in our environment. They can be readily perceived at a physical distance or visual vantage that precludes face perception. Moreover, body motion conveys meaningful psychological information such as social categories, emotion state, intentions, and underlying dispositions. Thus, body perception appears to serve as a first-pass filter for a vast array of social judgments from the routine (e.g., perceived friendliness in interactions) to the grave (e.g., perceived threat by law enforcement). This book provides an exciting integration of theory and findings that clarify how the human body is perceived by observers.Less

Published in print: 2012-12-04

The human body has long been a rich source of inspiration for the arts, and artists have long recognized the body's special status. While the scientific study of body perception also has an important history, recent technological advances have triggered an explosion of research on the visual perception of the human body in motion, or as it is traditionally called, biological motion perception. Now reaching a point of burgeoning inter-disciplinary focus, biological motion perception research is poised to transform our understanding of person construal. Indeed, several factors highlight a privileged role for the human body as one of the most critical classes of stimuli affecting social perception. Human bodies in motion, for example, are among the most frequent moving stimulus in our environment. They can be readily perceived at a physical distance or visual vantage that precludes face perception. Moreover, body motion conveys meaningful psychological information such as social categories, emotion state, intentions, and underlying dispositions. Thus, body perception appears to serve as a first-pass filter for a vast array of social judgments from the routine (e.g., perceived friendliness in interactions) to the grave (e.g., perceived threat by law enforcement). This book provides an exciting integration of theory and findings that clarify how the human body is perceived by observers.

This chapter compares amodal completion and the perception of visual illusions in birds and primates. Amodal completion concerns the perception of partly occluded figures. Visual illusions, in ...
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This chapter compares amodal completion and the perception of visual illusions in birds and primates. Amodal completion concerns the perception of partly occluded figures. Visual illusions, in theory, represent cases in which perceptual systems that are adaptively suited to some situations may suffer in other situations. The examples discussed in this chapter suggest that the visual perceptual system of a particular species may be tuned to its ecological niche: where its members live, how they move, what they eat, etc.Less

Amodal Completion and Illusory Perception in Birds and Primates

Published in print: 2012-03-14

This chapter compares amodal completion and the perception of visual illusions in birds and primates. Amodal completion concerns the perception of partly occluded figures. Visual illusions, in theory, represent cases in which perceptual systems that are adaptively suited to some situations may suffer in other situations. The examples discussed in this chapter suggest that the visual perceptual system of a particular species may be tuned to its ecological niche: where its members live, how they move, what they eat, etc.

Vision and memory are two of the most intensively studied topics in psychology and neuroscience, and the intersection between them — visual memory — is emerging as a fertile ground for research. ...
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Vision and memory are two of the most intensively studied topics in psychology and neuroscience, and the intersection between them — visual memory — is emerging as a fertile ground for research. Certain memory systems appear to specialize in maintaining visually encoded information. Vision provides the primary input to more general memory systems. These more general systems link and integrate visual memory with other perceptual and cognitive processes. As a result, visual perception cannot be understood independently of visual memories, which support the mapping of perceptual input onto existing knowledge structures that guide and constrain perceptual selection. This book provides an account of visual memory systems. The chapters provide both a broad overview of each topic and a summary of the latest research. They also present new perspectives that advance our theoretical understanding of visual memory and suggest directions for future research. After an introductory overview by the editors, chapters address visual sensory memory (iconic memory), visual short-term memory, and the relationship between visual memory and eye movements. Visual long-term memory is then reviewed from several different perspectives, including memory for natural scenes, the relationship between visual memory and object recognition, and associative learning. The final chapters discuss the neural mechanisms of visual memory and neuropsychological deficits in visual memory.Less

Visual Memory

Published in print: 2008-08-12

Vision and memory are two of the most intensively studied topics in psychology and neuroscience, and the intersection between them — visual memory — is emerging as a fertile ground for research. Certain memory systems appear to specialize in maintaining visually encoded information. Vision provides the primary input to more general memory systems. These more general systems link and integrate visual memory with other perceptual and cognitive processes. As a result, visual perception cannot be understood independently of visual memories, which support the mapping of perceptual input onto existing knowledge structures that guide and constrain perceptual selection. This book provides an account of visual memory systems. The chapters provide both a broad overview of each topic and a summary of the latest research. They also present new perspectives that advance our theoretical understanding of visual memory and suggest directions for future research. After an introductory overview by the editors, chapters address visual sensory memory (iconic memory), visual short-term memory, and the relationship between visual memory and eye movements. Visual long-term memory is then reviewed from several different perspectives, including memory for natural scenes, the relationship between visual memory and object recognition, and associative learning. The final chapters discuss the neural mechanisms of visual memory and neuropsychological deficits in visual memory.